• In October, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals petitioned Irvine, Calif., to create a roadside memorial for the truckload of live fish that had perished in a recent traffic accident. (After all, fish, like humans, use tools, tell time, sing, and have long-term memories, wrote PETA.) On the other hand, the traffic casualties that day were en route to the Irvine Ranch Market to be sold as food. [Orange County Register, 10-29-2012]

• The official explanation was that all of the papers concerning construction of a movie theater were deemed "commercially sensitive" and "not in the public interest."

(Following an outcry, the Council re-thought the FOI request and disclosed "considerably more information," according to the Daily Telegraph.) [Daily Telegraph, 11-29-2012]